A sharp increase in clothing prices has doubled the rate of inflation in the UK in April 2021. As per the Office of National Statistics (ONS), UK’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose from 0.7 per cent in March to 1.5 per cent in April as clothing and footwear prices rose by 2.4 per cent between March and April 2021. Throughout 2020, clothing and footwear prices followed a different pattern compared to previous years. Clothing prices fell 1.5 per cent in February before rising by 2.4 per cent between March and April 2921. The Retail Sales Index figures by ONS showed a 35.7 per cent year-on-year increase in overall sales in April 2021.

Improved weather during April resulted in greater sales of fashion, particularly in outerwear and knitwear, as the public renewed their wardrobe and made plans to meet friends and family outdoors. Online sales also continued to perform strongly, rewarding those retailers who had invested in their online and delivery operations during the pandemic, said Helen Dickinson, CEO, British Retail Consortium.

However, store footfalls have declined 40 per cent. The end of the full business rates relief in England poses a significant threat to retailers who have spent well over a billion pounds on COVID-secure measures aimed at protecting staff and customers, she added.

Dickinson urged the government to reform the broken business rates system in the ongoing review. This will help the industry to improve digital offering and breath new life into the high streets and town centres, Dickinson added.

Revenue of Korean sportswear manufacturer Fila Holdings grew 25.1 per cent to KRW 988.281 million in first quarter ended March 31, 2021, compared to revenue of KRW 789,901 million in the corresponding period of prior fiscal. The company’s net profit rose to KRW 134,201 million from KRW 39,500 million posted in Q1 FY20.

Gross profit for the reported period increased to KRW 498,541 million from KRW 381,699 million in the previous year while operating profit jumped to KRW 183,569 million.

The company’s revenues from Korea during Q1 FY21 increased to KRW 136,163 million from KRW 128,826 million in the previous year while revenues from US surged to KRW 132,284 million from KRW 106,149 million.

Fila Holdings Corp is a sportswear manufacturer that designs shoes and apparel founded by Ettore and Giansevero Fila in 1911 in Biella, Piedmont, Italy through its subsidiary Magnus Holdings Co. Fila Holdings owns a 52 per cent stake in Acushnet Company, Fila Holdings' largest shareholders include Piemonte Co at around 20 per cent, Fila Holdings at 20 per cent, and South Korea's National Pension Service at around 13 per cent.[ Gene Yoon, who owns a 75 per cent stake in Piemonte, serves as the chairman of Fila Holdings.

LaNyalla Mahmud Mattalitti, Chairman-Regional Representative Council, Republic of Indonesia AA aims to increase apparel exports in line with rising domestic market demand. As per Indo Textiles, demand for apparels has increased significantly in Indonesia due to Eid and reopening of schools and offices. One of the country’s prominent manufacturers, PT Trisula Textile Industries Tbk (BELL) was flooded with orders for uniforms for various government and private institutions, such as banks, hospitals and airlines.

Mattalitti urged other producers to follow BELL's steps in providing good quality fabrics to enable the national market to compete with imported fabrics. He also urged the government to create a conducive investment climate even though it is still a pandemic condition. LaNyalla also requested the government to protect the national textile industry from cheap imports.

As per latest India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) report, cotton prices in India are expected to remain healthy in FY22 with largely stable production. However, domestic stock-to-use ratio may decline to 73 per cent for the season ending July 2021, says the report. The US Department of Agriculture – Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA-FAS) also expects stock to use ratio to decline to 60 per cent on likely incremental consumption levels during the next cotton season ending July 2022 against flattish production, said Ind-Ra in the April 2021 edition of its credit news digest on India’s textile sector.

USDA-FAS expects domestic crop to increase 2 per cent YoY in the next season commencing October 2021 while consumption is slated to increase by 6-8 per cent YoY, leading to a reduction in ending stocks. The marginal rise in production is despite an expected lower area under cultivation for the next season, albeit supported by a normal monsoon and increasing yield by 5 per cent to 497 kg per hectare. Furthermore, USDA-FAS expects cotton exports to increase by 0.5 million bales (480lb) to 6 million bales in the next cotton season, supported by lower domestic cotton prices.

The gross margins of cotton yarn prices are expected to remain healthy for spinners on the back of a supportive export demand coupled with a gradual improvement in domestic consumption levels. Furthermore, issues such as Xinjiang cotton could continue to support India’s healthy export levels, despite high cotton prices.

At a recent meeting between International Labor Organization (ILO) and BGMEA, Tuomo Pouliainen, Country Director, ILO praised the development made by Bangladesh RMG sector in the areas of workplace safety and social compliance. Pouliainen also discussed the progress of ongoing projects being jointly implemented by ILO and BGMEA in the RMG sector. He discussed the possibility of collaboration between ILO and BGMEA with Faruque, Hassan, President, BGMEA.

Hassan thanked ILO for providing support to Bangladesh garment industry in ensuring workers' rights and welfare. The meeting was attended by Miran Ali, Vice President, BGMEA, Barrister Shehrin Salm Oishee and Asif Asraf, Directors. Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) is a nationwide trade organization of garments manufacturers in Bangladesh and is located in the capital city of Dhaka. It plays a pivotal role in the country's earning sector of foreign trades.

With activewear sales expected to grow by 6.5 per cent by 2021-end, many clothing brands plan to launch their new collections in the market, says a report Allied Market Research. It highlights, the activewear market is expected to touch $547 billion by 2024. To explore these opportunities, Kohl plans to include more activewear and outdoor products in its portfolio. The American fashion retailer plans to expand activewear products 20 per cent and launching a new private label activewear brand, partnering Calvin Klein and adding new products from activewear brand Champion. It also plans to enter into a partnership with US clothing brand Eddie Bauer.

In March this year, US sportswear giant adidas joined hands with Peloton to offer their maiden joint activewear collection. The 11-piece collection comprised shorts, tights, tanks, tees, amongst others.

American clothing retailer JCPenney has also redesigned its XersionR activewear line with the help of latest performance technology EverairTM. The design encourages a distraction-free workout for its customers, with sweat-proof pockets, reflective and anti-odour elements besides several other features.

Underwear brand Thinx also ventured into activewear in January 2021 by launching leggings, cycling shorts and training shorts – each featuring Thinx’s much acclaimed absorbent technology. British clothing giant Marks & Spencer plans to expand its Goodmove women’s activewear range by including menswear and kidswear.

Indian artisans have been creating intrinsic designs for global luxury fashion labels for ages. Garments designed by these karigars have adorned the looks of many international celebrations besides helping global brands make millions of dollars. Yet, their talent is rarely celebrated, says a Live Mint report.

Now is the time for global fashion brands to extend their support to Indian artisans. As India struggles with second COVID-19 wave, many of artisans have been rendered jobless, facing stark poverty. Only a few brands like Louis Vuitton have come forward to help these artisans. Others are apathetic to the sufferings of their suppliers, says Maximiliano Modesti, Founder & Managing Director, Les Atelier 2M and the Kalhath Institute. What make the garments produced by most of global brands special are their intrinsic designs. He believes, only Indian artisans have the ability to produce such designs in huge volumes at affordable costs.

Designer Peter Dundasis, who designed the jumpsuit for singer-songwriter H.E.R for the Oscar Awards last month, also vouches for the talent of Indian artisans. Last year, he collaborated with quaran-T, an initiative by Swedish brand incubator Bozzil and Mumbai embroidery house Saks India to celebrate their works.

Faulty perception, unstable demand

London-based designer Osman Yousefzada, opines, one reason Indian artisans do not get due credit is the perception by European luxury brands of their skills as just a craft and not design. Another reason is the use of Indian crafts according to brands’ whims and fancies, adds designer Rahul Mishra who has been struggling to complete his collection before Paris Haute Couture Week in July owing to migration of artisans to their hometowns during the lockdown.

Proponents of change

One of the few brands that have acknowledged their connection with Indian karigars is sportswear brand Lululemon. The brand recently donated $200,000 for the rehabilitation of artisans displaced by the pandemic. Embroidery houses like Saks India are also supporting these artisans. The export house did most of its product sampling in-house during lockdown to support craftsman, informs Sajjad Khan, Founder.

Responsibility to artisans

To change the current scheme of things, global brands need to recognize India’s role in their success, views Modesti. They cannot remain silent on their India connection, he adds.

Yousefzada agrees, brands are responsible for the well-being of their overseas craftsmen and workers. They cannot ignore their commitment towards Indian artisans. He advises luxury brands to acknowledge their works by adding the line on ‘Hand Embroidered in India,’ on their garments.

Data compiled by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics shows, Pakistan’s exports of textile and clothing rebounded in April mainly due to value-added sectors and posted a robust growth of 231.17 per cent from a year ago.

The highest growth in exports in April is due to low-base of last year when export-oriented industries remained closed due to the COVID-19 lockdown and cancellation of orders from international buyers. As a result of this low base, growth was reflected in value-added and non-value added textile products.

During July-April, the value of Pakistan’s textile and apparel exports reached $12.692billion against $10.816billion over the corresponding months of last year, showing a growth of 17.35pc.

Product-wise, exports of ready-made garments increased by 12.56per cent in value, followed by knitwear 30.69per cent, bedwear 24.66per cent and towels 27.18per cent during 10MFY21. Pakistan and China’s apparel exports posted a substantial growth to United States compared to regional countries during the past few months.

According to the PBS data, the export of cotton yarn grew by 164per cent in April from a year ago. However, export of cotton yarn posted a negative growth 4.03per cent in 10MFY21.

The exports of cotton cloth revived and posted a growth of 200.44per cent in April from a year ago. In the non-value-added sectors, exports of tents and canvas were up 21.86per cent followed by art and silk which increased by 10.52per cent, made-up articles excluding towels and bedwear were up 22.22per cent and other textile products saw an increase of 39.24per cent during the 10-months under review.

Between July and April, the overall exports reached $20.905billion as against $18.398billion over the corresponding months of last year, indicating a growth of 13.63per cent.

In late May, Huahong and Sanfangxiang plan maintenance, and the operating rate of direct-spun PSF is predicted to decrease to around 90 per cent at that time, which has limited impacts on the supply. In short term, direct-spun PSF will run under pressure.

Plants will not adjust up prices despite around cost line or facing losses due to previously high inventory and bearish outlook. According to CCFGroup, a considerable part of polyester yarn has flown to warehouses of traders instead of downstream. Bearish downstream demand and inventory accumulation of grey fabric are indisputable facts.

The weakness of upstream raw materials and sluggish downstream demand have not been reflected in polyester yarn prices which are offered stably by the mills. T32S is mainly traded at 11,800-12,100yuan/mt in Fujian, Jiangxi, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and at 11,200-11,400yuan/mt in Hebei. Most market players believe that the inventory accumulation is likely to happen in May and Jun due to slack season.

Spinning companies listed at Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) logged higher profits in the July-March period of the current year from that of a year ago thanks to a price hike of yarn.

As per Daily Star, between July and March of the current fiscal year, Bangladesh earned $23.48 billion from apparel shipments, which was 2.55 per cent lower than that in the corresponding period last fiscal year, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau.

While textile and RMG were struggling, spinning mills availed the advantage of the price hike of yarn which turned out to be a big influencer of their higher profits.

Among six listed spinners, four witnessed higher profits and two were able to make a profit on incurring losses previously.

Malek Spinning logged the highest profit growth among all the 26 listed textile companies. Its profit rose more than eight times year-on-year to Tk 39 crore in the first nine months of the current fiscal year.

Cotton was being traded at $0.60 to $0.85 per kg on an average during the June-December period last year, which later on ranged between $0.95 and $1.7 in March, according to data of Bangladesh Textiles Mills Association (BTMA).

The spinning mills attributed the hike in cotton prices to rising demand for the item globally and its supply crunch, and upward costs of other related logistics following the emergence of the pandemic.

Due to the pandemic, cotton price rose in the world market which enhanced yarn prices. It ultimately had an impact on the local yarn market, said Mir Ariful Islam, Head-Research, Prime Finance Asset Management Company.